User blog:Commander Shepard 317/Rip
'Introduction' This is a blog that will chronicle the journey of five Lions Sable Assault Marines and their transformation from base-ness to greatness. The objective of this blog is to accomplish two things: 1) to help those that are in love with this hobby locate, buy, paint, and play Warhammer 40k without breaking their bank and 2) to provide some fluff around my custom Dark Angels Successor Chapter, the Lions Sable. Parts of this blog will be serious. Parts of this blog will be funny. And some parts of this blog might not make any sense at all. Just as planned. So without further ado, I present Rip & Tear. '++Target Located++' The first part of building any army is, at the risk of sounding obvious, buying the miniatures. However, if you are a normal person the price of a box of brand new miniatures can be intimidating. And to top it all off, you have to buy the paints and brushes to make the miniatures look good. This section is going to talk about ways to buy miniatures without breaking the bank, as well as any other materials you are going to need for this process. In keeping with the theme of beginnings, we will also be introduced to Assault Squad Anaf of the Lions Sable on the eve of battle for Cocytus I. 'The Eve of Battle' The motors of Brother Nemah's power armor produced a distinct whining sound as he stalked along the trench line. It had been a full day since he had watched the rest of the Unforgiven depart Cocytus I on the eve of the 1st Legion's greatest triumph since the days of the Lion and the Great Crusade. The thought of their departure left an acrid taste in his mouth. How could any true Son of the Lion leave knowing that those responsible for the Lion's death, those twice damned Sons of Horus, were gathered together in one place, ripe for the killing? He shook his head at the thought. '' ''Rounding the corner, Nemah saw the hulking, black armored form of his Assault Sergeant, Polyon. Gathered around him in a circle stood the others in his squad: Brother Adir, a swordsman of great skill, renowned for his finesse and form; Brother Efraim, silent and steady, the voice of reason in Squad Anaf and an artist with the flamer; and lastly Brother Zev, assigned to Squad Anaf after his was destroyed by a traitor ambush in the opening act of the battle for Cocytus I. Polyon turned and scowled at Nemah; "You are late brother." '' ''"Indeed sir," Nemah said, supressing his annoyance. "The armory is running low on supplies. It took the serfs longer than expected to find an extra chain for my chainsword." Polyon gestured to an empty spot within the circle with a broad sweep of his hand. "Well, since you are here now, maybe I can begin my briefing sometime before the Lion returns?" Nemah's face flushed red, hidden beneath his Corvus pattern helmet. With his sergeant's rebuke stinging in his ears, he took his place beside Zev and Efraim, indicative of his low status in the squad. '' ''"Alright brothers," Polyon began, "we have received our orders. The traitors are holed up in a structure called 'The Tower of Angels.' We engage them tomorrow. Tactical Marines, Devastators, and armored support will form up in a battle line directly opposite the fort. The Ravenwing will secure our flanks, while the Deathwing, High Command, and the Librarius cut the head from the enemy. It is up to us, the Assault Marines, to stay here in this rear trench line in reserve. If the enemy breaches the main battle line, it will be our job to jump in and assist our tactical brethren in close combat. Any questions?" Nemah bristled at the thought of standing idly by while the battle raged directly in front of them. He could sense the others did too, though they were all smart enough not to voice their dissent. If High Command thought this was the best course of action, they would serve in their assigned role. "Good," Polyon growled, "the rest of the Unforgiven may have abandoned this fight, but not the Lions Sable. They may call themselves the Angels of Vengeance, or Redemption, or whatever Throne forsaken moniker they choose. But they forget that it was a Lion that led the Angels to victory, a Lion that carved the name of the 1st Legion in blood across a thousand worlds across a hundred star systems, a Lion that gave his life for the Emperor. And tomorrow, a Lion will once again bring bloody retribution to the traitors, and they shall know our fury." A cheer rose from the throats of the assembled Lions Sable. Nemah gripped his chainsword subconsciously as thoughts of glory and the coming slaughter raced through his mind. '' 'Buying Miniatures Without Breaking the Bank' Perhaps the greatest resource for anyone that is not wanting to break the bank when buying miniatures is eBay. Many have entered this hobby, few have stayed, and the wreckage of their failed attempts are strewn across the site for our perusal. "Pro painted" models abound, serving as a warning to what happens if you don't thin your paints . Though I am probably going to gloss over some important eBay stores, I will try to provide a list of stores that I have shopped at that provide the best deals. If you don't see your favorite store on here, eBay or otherwise, please PLEASE list it in the comments aa-wargames : This is my go to store. You can get deals here that are absolutely unbelieveable. New listings are uploaded once a week and usually end on a Sunday. Unlike some other stores, this is a bidding site. No Buy It Now, though to be fair if they sold everything that they listed for $1.97 they would close down. Be warned though: sometimes people get carried away in bidding, and you have to know when to give it up. One Deathwing Command Squad box I was bidding on started at $2.00 and ended up going for $75. And they were poorly painted. Other stores I've bought from include: garrisongames sinclairgames sariel111 chaosorc '''Squad Anaf' ' ' So this is the Assault Squad whose rehabilitation will be the subject of this blog. I won these guys on aa-wargame on eBay, and as you can tell these guys look kind of rough. Well, more than a little rough. Buy you want to know what made it worth it? How about $10.00? That is right. I won five Assault Marines for $10.00. You don't think that is a good deal? Go check their price on Games Workshop . I'll wait. Okay, so by now I'm sure you've checked it out. And the best part about this is, that deal is not something out of the ordinary. I have routinely won units that would add up to about an 80% discount. This comes with a couple of qualifiers though. You will not find Primaris models anywhere near this price anywhere on eBay. Give it a couple of years and you might be able to. You will also not find any Sisters of Battle, Death Korps of Krieg, or any other faction that is sold by Forgeworld or whose model is metal at this price either. Furthermore, the drawback to buying units like this is you generally don't get any extra bits. This can be a real problem if you are trying to convert or rehabilitate units. Fortunately, I have a ton of bits from the various years that I have been in this hobby, so that is not much of a problem for me. However, if you are short on bits, you may want to consider buying a brand new box, or at least searching for bits on eBay, to help you with the restoration. Alright, so now that the target has been acquired, we will move on to the next phase: purging the weak. ++Purging the Weak++ Nemah descended upon wings of fire, chainsword screaming like the chattering daemons that surrounded him. His chainsword rose and fell, parried and chopped, thrusted and hacked. The scene around him was one of utter chaos. Tactical Marines were drug down by Chaos Spawn and clawed to gory pieces even as they pumped Bolter fire and curses into their attackers. Predators were crushed like tin cans by sorcerous powers too great for Nemah to comprehend, their crew pulped inside like tubes of Grox meat. A Devastator was caught by a blast of warp fire, his sable colored form there on minute and then ashes scattered to the foul winds of Cocytus I the next. ''The first warning that something had gone terribly wrong was when the traitors, who were fleeing before the might of the Lions Sable, turned around and launched their assault. Attempts to raise the Deathwing and High Command were answered with static, though Nemah could have swore that he heard cackling laughter faintly in the fuzzy signals. Then great lights flickered along the lines, some a blue the color of a winter sky and others a sickly purple hue. In their places strode forth the automota of the Thousand Sons, Horros, and a multitude of Chaos Spawn. Without further delay, Brother Sergeant Polyon gave the cry, and Squad Anaf took to the skies. '' ''Brother Adir had been the first to die. Landing amongst his Tactical brethren, he slew the daemons and footsoldiers of the Thousand Sons with zeal. If that was all that plagued them, the Lions Sable might have been able to repel the horde. However, that was not to be: even greater lights flickered into existence, and through those lights came the elite of the Thousand Sons, the Scarab Occult Terminators. Adir charged the nearest one, sword raised high and the battle cry of the Lions Sable on his lips; "Through pain, redemption!" Nemah watched as one of the Occult turned his head slowly, contemplating Adir with eerie silence. Khopesh blade met chainsword, sparks flying from the collision. Though he was Squad Anaf's greatest swordsman, he did not stand a chance against the foul servant of Tzeentch. The Occult Terminator contemptuously deflected Adir's next swipe, bringing his storm bolter around and pumping Inferno rounds into Adir's chest. Flung back by the sheer force of the volley, Adir grasped for his chainsword. Without a word the Occult Terminator strode over to him and separated Adir's head from his body. As Adir's body spasmed in death, the Thousand Son strode deeper into the Lions Sable battle line, looking for more kills. '' Category:Blog posts